In the lighting sector the use has spread of lighting modules adapted to be controlled by so-called light-engines, distributed along the length of the module (in the case of elongated linear modules) or on the area of the modules, e.g. with a plurality of driving circuits each of which controls a respective Single Electrical Unit (SEU).
Apart from the power supply, the elongated modules are not usually provided with a connection among the various SEUs, so that each unit operates independently, without accessing to information about the status of the previous or the following driving units.
In various applications, e.g. for smart lighting devices, it would be desirable to enable the various SEUs to communicate with each other, in order to share e.g. information about monitoring the status of the various SEUs distributed along the module and/or about the actions triggered by one or more sensors distributed along the length of the module.
In this respect, the proposal has been made to use smart components (such as microcontrollers or microprocessors) adapted to monitor the status of sensing elements and to consequently regulate the various light-engines.
Another approach has proposed the use of addressable linear lighting modules, wherein the various SEUs are sequentially connected via a common communication bus, which however is usually limited to a one-way information transmission.
In principle, the information may be transferred along the lighting module, specifically between the various Electronic Control Gear (ECG), by wireless communication systems (e.g. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, . . . ) or by cabled communication systems (e.g. based on the DALI or I2C standards, or via serial protocols, etc.).
In most cases, such solutions envisage employing rather expensive smart components and a number of electrical connections, which may affect the product size by requiring e.g. the presence of wider substrates (e.g. Flexible Printed Circuits, FPCs) or multiple-layer substrates, with a negative impact on the cost due the need both of a higher amount of material for implementing the substrate and of more complex FPC structures.